Jake Wallis Simons (@JakeWSimons) is a Telegraph features writer, novelist and broadcaster. His website is jakewallissimons.com. Follow him on Facebook here and on Twitter here. His fourth novel, Jam, which is set in a traffic jam on the M25, is out now.

This is just the latest in a long list of such appalling deaths. In November, four-year-old Lexi Branson was killed by a bulldog – not a breed listed under the Dangerous Dogs Act – near Loughborough. And it was not long ago that 14-year-old Jade Anderson was savaged to death by two bullmastiffs and two Staffordshire bull terriers when she visited friends in Wigan.

How many more of these tragedies will it take before the Government takes decisive remedial action? They occur with shocking frequency; and the Government's lackadaisical attitude towards dealing with the problem is, if anything, even more shocking.

Last year more than 200,000 people were attacked by dogs, costing the NHS about £3 million. Under the current system, when a dog causes injury to a member of the public its owner can be sent to prison for up to two years and face a fine. The Government has toughened up these measures in recent years, but there is still no parity with drink driving offences, which carry a maximum term of 14 years in prison.

Labour has proposed the introduction of Dog Control Notices, or Dog Asbos – a system which is already in place in Scotland – under which "problem dogs" may be banned from the streets, or allowed into public areas only when muzzled. Owners may also be forced to attend training sessions.

“The Government simply hasn’t gone far enough to protect people,” said David Hanson, the Shadow Home Office Minister. “This power would mean police and local authorities could take action at the first sign of problems, rather than waiting until a tragedy occurs.”

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee stated in a report last year that these sorts of initiatives would be cheaper than the cost of treating victims of dog bites on the NHS, and urged the Government to toughen up its position.

But campaigners have been sceptical about such punitive measures, which tend to focus on the “after-effect of an attack” rather than a preventative strategy.

“We believe if you want to drive down dog bites and improve people’s control of dogs, you need to have some sort of preventive measures,” said David Bowles, head of public affairs at the RSPCA, when interviewed on the Today Programme in August. “Unless we solve this problem about people not being able to control their dogs properly, I think you’re still going to see a rise in dogs biting people.”

In 2011, the State of New York introduced mandatory dog licensing, which helped with reuniting lost dogs with their owners and ensuring that vaccinations are kept up-to-date. The system could also be used to ensure that dangerous dogs are not being kept by irresponsible owners, and to enforce training courses on anybody seeking to own dangerous breeds.

There could hardly be a more horrific problem, or one that is more urgent to address. In many parts of Britain, dogs have gone from being pets to being status symbols to being weapons. Not only are they an intimidating presence on our streets, but the danger of being attacked is unacceptable in a civilised society.

It goes without saying that the vast majority of dog owners are responsible. And few would be enthusiastic about more regulation. But such is the devastation caused by irresponsible owners that the case for tougher action is unanswerable.

It would not take much to introduce a British dog licence, which would require owners to demonstrate their competency and undergo some basic training before being granted the responsibility of dog ownership. These licences would need to be renewed every few years, and would be accompanied by small annual fee.

Not only would this deter irresponsible dog owners, but it would also allow the authorities to keep tabs on dangerous breeds and have official channels with which to confiscate dogs who have become a danger to society.

The Government needs start taking this problem seriously. The number of children who are mauled to death by dogs each year is wholly unacceptable. It is time for a British dog licence.